Postcards From The Road.

Skimming the Surface of Cappadocia in Turkey.

‘Wake up Love. Wake up!’ whispers my husband, his tone one of awe.
‘Look!’ I open my eyes to see a land of whimsical
fairy chimneys and cave houses bathed in the gentle early morning light, and in the distance, a host of hot-air balloons
prepare to launch. It felt as if the overnight bus from Antalya had dropped us
straight into the pages of a fantasy novel.

We had come to
Cappadocia to tick off that ultimate of bucket list adventures: the region’s famed hot-air balloon rides!

Our hot-air balloon pick-up is scheduled for an uncivilised 4:30am the following morning. I am not a morning person, only finding my personality in my 3rd cup of coffee of the day, but when this moment comes, I am like a little child waiting to open her presents on Christmas morning. It is still quite dark when we step outside to wait for our pickup and oh my word, it’s cold. A glance up at the sky and I am ready to go back to my warm bed and weep. A blanket of clouds hides the stars from view, and I’m not an expert but I don’t think we will be able to fly.

Weather forecasting Cappadocia Style.

But I am an eternal optimist, even so early in the morning. So I don’t bail when the pick-up arrives, and I welcome the hot coffee with breakfast pastries and fruit while we wait for clearance to fly from the local civil aviation authorities. The suspense is almost unbearable, and I pray to all the weather gods that I can think of to smile upon us and grant us a small weather window for our flight. And then there’s a flurry of activity, suddenly it’s all systems go and we are off to the balloon launch site. My prayers have been answered.

A view from on high…

By now the first light is slowly stealing over this
extraordinary landscape, signaling the coming of the dawn. The excitement on
the bus is almost palpable. Our driver turns
down a dirt track lined with balloon envelopes being prepped for flight. A
sudden whoosh of flame and an envelope lights up briefly on our left, to be
replaced by another on our right, and then another, and yet another … it feels
as if we are travelling along a giant string of Christmas tree lights in a
fantasy wonderland.

Our driver stops next to one of these radiant lights, this is our balloon! It’s happening! We are going to do this. I have to confess that I was so busy gawking at the beauty of this mass congregation of balloons that I simply don’t remember getting into the basket, until my husband whispers in my ear, ‘Pay attention …’ to the pilot’s all-important safety briefing.

We rise up to meet the dawn.

As
the sun rises behind the clouds, our hot air
balloon along with 99 other balloons effervesce like colourful bubbles up into
the sky to greet the coming of the day. It
is breath-taking! We soar high up for a birds-eye view of planet Cappadocia and
a dawn sky full of colourful hot-air balloons. Our skilled pilot keeps the
basket in a constant and very slow rotation so that everyone in the basket can
enjoy a complete 360-degree view of the spectacle.

We drift over a magical landscape of bizarre rock formations in shades of reds, pinks and whites, and I am reminded of the Winnie the Pooh poem, ‘How sweet to be a cloud, floating in the blue,’ well, in our case, floating in the grey. It is silent except for the periodic bursts of gas released into the envelope by our pilot and the occasional reverent comments of our fellow passengers.

The coyly named Love Valley.

Our
pilot rides the wind currents, dipping back down to earth and into a narrow
gorge filled with fairy chimneys. At times we waft by so close that if I had
the courage to lean out of the basket, I am sure I can touch them. We glide
effortlessly in and out of the valleys and gorges of Cappadocia, over
cultivated plots of land and over the sleepy towns of Goreme and Uchisar. We
breeze over long abandoned monastery complexes and crumbling cave houses built
inside the fairy chimneys and into the valley walls. On the side of an intact
chimney, a balcony with a single garden chair waits for its occupant, a silent
reminder that people do still live here.

And, all too soon, it is over and we land, light as a feather, back on terra firma! Well, actually, our pilot lands on the waiting basket trailer with absolute pinpoint precision. In keeping with ballooning tradition, we toast the end of our flight with a glass of champagne which I sip with my head still firmly in the clouds. It’s everything that I dreamed it would be, only so much better, it’s quiet, dramatic and simply stunning.

Not all hot-air Balloon Flights are equal!

Good To Know:

Dress
in layers, you will go to high altitudes so it
is very chilly. And don’t forget your
sunblock, a warm hat and gloves.

Not
all hot-air balloon flights are equal!

A
hot-air balloon flight in Cappadocia is without doubt a bucket list adventure, but
do ask questions and do your research before you commit to a company. I noticed
that some of the balloon companies simply take you up high into the sky to soar
above Cappadocia for an hour and that is it! This is not a cheap adventure so you
do want to ensure that you have the best experience possible with an able and
confident pilot who speaks your language. Your flight depends entirely on your
pilot’s ability to not only soar up into the sky but to also dip down into the
valleys, safely.

This
is by no means a definitive list but do ask these questions:

How skilled
and experienced is our assigned pilot going to be?

Will he go
low into the valleys and mix up our flight with high and low views?

Does he speak
my language?

How big is
the basket and how many people in are in each basket? (Some baskets take up to 40 people, yes, it
is cheaper but crowded.)

What is their
safety record?

And of course,
the burning question, how long is the flight?

And do be aware that weather can cause the day’s flights to be cancelled so make sure to give yourself at least two mornings in Cappadocia, just in case.

DISCLOSURE: All photographs, experiences and opinions expressed in this blog post are my own.

Jennifer Mostert is a film and television producer with a deep passion for South African stories, photography, and travel. She is also a certified coffee snob. Seriously. She doesn’t travel anywhere without her own coffee and a decent plunger.

Ah Jen this is so on my list too. We had a balloon ride in America although there was no wind so we went up 100ft and then came down about 200 yards away about 20 minutes later. Still it was a great experience and has fuelled me to do it again. I would so love to do it here too. So will pin this for reading later. Thanks so much for the great storytelling and tips too.

Great list of questions! I know this is a super popular bucket list item for most people, but did was it worth the 4:30 AM wake up time? Would it be an enjoyable alternative to watch the balloons from the ground? That landscape is truly spectacular!

It was so worth waking up early for and I’m not a morning person! I would recommend do both the flight and watch the flights from the ground, they are each quite different and equally amazing experiences.

Turkey is such an fantastic country—the people and food are equally amazing. I live part of the year in Bodrum, and have been meaning to travel away from Turkey’s coast to visit Cappadocia. I hate that the international press paints such a negative image of Turkey, so it’s great to have bloggers like you shine a spotlight on one of it’s most popular destinations.

This looks amazing and is so high on my bucket list. Interesting that you say not all hot air ballon trips are equal, I probably wouldn’t have thought of that in my excitement. They are expensive so I would definitely want to get the best experience for my buck.

What a wonderful post! Cappadocia looks like a magical place to explore. I was able to cross hot air ballooning off my list on my 50th birthday in Sedona Arizona in somewhat similar surroundings. I would go again in a heartbeat. The peaceful quiet with just the sounds of nature and the hot air balloon made me want to stay up there forever. Thanks for sharing your experience and great tips.

What a wonderful experience to have in Cappadocia! I have seen fairy chimneys at Bryce Canyon National Park (called hoodoos there) and have wanted to find others around the world. We hope to go to Turkey soon, so I really enjoyed reading about this experience. I’d love be on one of those hot air balloons!

About Me

Addicted to Travel

I have a travel habit! I work as a freelance film and TV producer to fund my travels with my enormously tolerant husband, Dave. Oh, and I am a certified coffee snob. Seriously, I never travel anywhere without my own coffee and a decent plunger.